Foldable sawhorse

ABSTRACT

A sawhorse having legs which are pivotally mounted so as to swing between the normal operative positions and positions underneath and adjacent the sawhorse body. The legs are pivoted to swing in planes which are laterally spaced so that they do not interfere in the folded position. These planes include two planes which are at small angles to planes longitudinal of the sawhorse body to achieve the necessary clearance with one another. Means are provided for releasably fastening the legs in either the extended or folded position.

United States Patent Secor Aug. 8, 1972 [54] F OLDABLE SAWHORSE 72 Inventor: Arthur Secor, 3545 West 115th St., pnmay gl Attorney-Forrest J.

22 Filed: Dec. 7, 1970 s71 ABSTRACT [21] Appl. No.: 95,612 A sawhorse having legs which are pivotally mounted so as to swing between the normal operative positions and positions underneath and adjacent the sawhorse body- The legs are pivoted to swing in planes which [58] Field 132 155 1815186 are laterally s aced so that they do not interfere in the l2/224 v folded position. These planes include two planes which are at small angles to planes longitudinal of the sawhorse body to achieve the necessary clearance [56] References cued V with one another. Means are provided for releasably UNITED STATES PATENTS fastening the legs in either the extended or folded I. 2,824,771 2/1953 Blenski ..1s2/1s5 3,233,701 2/1966 Hentzi "182/155 6 Clairm, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEDMI: 8 I972 SHEEI 1 OF 2 INVENTOR. 4e Mae 5x02 PATENTEDAus 8:972 Q 3.682.272

' sum 2 or 2 INVENTOR lav/a2 5 6 I.BYW%@ 1 FOLDABLE SAWHORSE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to sawhorses, and

more particularly to a sawhorse having legs which are conveniently foldable into an out-of-the way position for storage or transportation.

Sawhorses occupy considerable space, and are inconvenient both to store and transport. Generally, when not in service, they stand around the yard, or workshop floor, occupying substantial space, and presenting a degree of nuisance by their presence. When it becomes necessary to store them away, or to transport them to or from a job-site, they are found to be awkward in shape, and to occupy considerable space. A general purpose of the invention is to meet these problems by the provision of a sturdy but foldable sawhorse, whose legs can be folded in a unique manner so as to provide a compact package for either storage or transportation.

' BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention, the four legs of the sawhorse are pivotally connected to support blocks fixed to the underside of the sawhorse body in such a manner that they may be swung into folded-away posi- DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sawhorse in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the sawhorse in FIG. 1, with the legs in folded position;

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of the sawhorse in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the sawhorse, with the legs in folded position;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged section taken on the line 5--5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary detail within the circular arrow 6 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary detail taken in accordance with the section line 7-7 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken on the section'line 8-8 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a section taken in accordance with the section line 9-9 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 10 is an elevational view showing the extended sawhorses stacked.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown to embody a body 10 and legs 11, the latter, when the sawhorse is in service, standing in unfolded or extended position as in FIG. 1, but being pivotally mounted to the body so as to be capable of folding into the position shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, particularly. The sawhorse, body and legs, is composed preferably of wood, but other materials are, of course, not excluded. The body embodies a plank 10a of rectangular section, and may be conveniently referred to as a body plank. Forming a component part of the body structure, and recessed into the underside of the body plank 10a, near opposite ends'thereof, are two keystone-shaped blocks 12. These blocks 12 may be approximately one and one-half inches in thickness, and are positioned transversely of the body plank 10a, just inside the pairs of legs 11. The small end of the keystone block 12 is uppermost, and seated and cemented in recess 13 in the underside of the body member 10a. The wide end of the block 12 may be of the same width as the body member 10a, and each block 12 has I opposite downwardly and outwardly inclined side edges 14 and 15, of the same outward slope as the legs 1 1, to which the legs are pivotally connected. The keystone block 12 is buttressedon both sides by triangular blocks 160, which may be cemented to the underside of the body member 10a and to the block 12.

The legs 11 are comprised of flat wooden boards, cut at their lower ends at an angle to engage flush against the floor when unfolded. They are positioned adjacent to and with the same inclination as the sloping said edges 14 and 15 of the blocks 12. These blocks 12 are in effect parts of the fixed body, and constitute the fixed leg support means of the body. As seen in FIG. 1, the two legs on each side are inclined apart, and the two legs at each end are also inclined apart, generally in the manner of conventional sawhorses.

Preferably, and in the present embodiment, the confronting surfaces of the legs 11 and the inclined edges 14 and 15 of the blocks l2-are provided with face plates 16a and 17, respectively, composed of a smoothsurfaced material of good wearing quality, and fastened in place by flat headed screws, as illustrated.

The legs are pivotally mounted to the block 12 by bolts 20 having conical, screw-threaded wood screw portions 20a for screwing into the block 12, and cylindrical screw-threaded shank portions 20b to receive washers 21 and wing nuts 22. The wood screw sections are screwed into the edges 14 and 15 of the block, perpendicularly thereto, through suitable apertures in the face plates 17, and the cylindrical threaded shank portions 20b pass loosely, with substantial clearance, through holes 24 in the legs 11. The washers and wing nuts go on as illustrated in FIG. 5.

The upper ends of the legs 11 are cut with angular upper end edge portions 30 adapted for flush supporting engagement with the horizontal underside of the body member 10a. The inside comers of the upper ends of the legs are cut away, at 32, for a reason that will presently be explained. The angle of the cut at 32, when the legs are in the erected position of FIG. 1, is preferably substantially 45 relative to the horizontal body member 10a.

In the position of FIG. 1, with upper end edges 30 of the legs in supporting engagement with the body member 10a, the screw members 20b are centered in the leg holes 24. The legs then do not press against the screw members. The wing nuts will be understood to be tightened at this time, clamping the legs in position against the body blocks 12. To fold the legs under, the

are clamped in extended, service position, with said pivot shanks clear of the perimeters of said leg apertures, and the upper ends of said legs being additionally so formed as to permit swinging of said legs on said pivot shanks when said legs are lowered relative to said apertures in order to swing said legs to folded position.

W105) UNZETED STA'EKLLS PATENT ()FFICE T n m m CERTHJKLATL 01E CRREC 1 mm Pater zt No. 3 ,682,272 I I Dated August 8, i972 Inventor(s) ARTHUR SECOR It is certified that error appears in' the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Col. 4, line 39, before "'fixed"- delete "blocks" Signed and sealed this E9th day 6f Jainuer'y 1973 (SEAL) I Attest:

EDWARD.M.FLETCHER,JR. .ROBERTGOTPTSCH'ALK Attestlng Officer 4 I; :"commi'ssior ier bf- Patents 

1. In a foldable sawhorse, the combination of: a longitudinally extending sawhorse body; legs pivotally mounted on said body, two adjacent to each end thereof, and two on each side thereof, the two legs on each side being pivotally mounted on the body to swing between extended, service positions, and positions folded underneath said body; means for clamping said legs fixedly relative to said body in either of said positions; and means positioning the two legs on each side of the sawhorse at different angular relationships to the direction of longitudinal extension of the sawhorse body when clamped in said folded position so as to clear and lie alongside but at a small acute angle relative to one another, the axes on which said legs are pivotally mounted on said body being at different angles relative to said direction of longitudinal extension to accommodate said different angular relationships of said legs to said direction of extension.
 2. The sawhorse of claim 1, wherein one of the two legs on each side of the sawhorse folds into a plane extending longitudinally of the sawhorse body, and the other extends at a small acute angle inwardly of the longitudinal direction.
 3. The sawhorse of claim 1, including leg mountings fixed to the undersides of the sawhorse body near opposite ends of the latter, said leg mountings having laterally ouTwardly facing plane leg-engaging mounting surfaces, one for each of said legs, and said surfaces for the two legs on each side of the sawhorse body being at different angles to the longitudinal direction of the sawhorse body, such that the legs clear one another when swung into folded position.
 4. The sawhorse of claim 1, including leg mountings blocks fixed to the undersides of the sawhorse body near opposite ends of the latter, said leg mountings having laterally outwardly facing plane leg-engaging mounting surfaces, one for each of said legs, and one of the two of such surfaces on each side of the block being longitudinally oriented relative to the sawhorse body and the other being oriented at a small, inward, acute angle relative to the longitudinal direction of the sawhorse body.
 5. The sawhorse of claim 1, including keystone-shaped mounting blocks fixed to and depending from the underside of the sawhorse body near opposite ends thereof, and oriented transversely of the longitudinal direction of the sawhorse body, the large ends of said keystone-shaped blocks being at the bottom, and said blocks having oppositely facing inclined side edges which engage the inside surfaces of said legs, said side edges of said blocks confronting the two legs on each side of the sawhorse being at sufficiently different angles relative to the longitudinal direction of the sawhorse body that the legs will clear one another when clamped flat against such surfaces; said leg clamping means including: pivot shanks mounted in said blocks and projecting substantially perpendicularly from said side edges of said blocks; said legs having oversize apertures to receive said pivot shanks; and nut and washer means screw-threaded on the extremities of said pivot shanks, outside said legs, adapted to clamp said legs against said side edges of said blocks.
 6. The subject matter of claim 5, wherein the upper ends of said legs have edges in supporting engagement with the underside of the sawhorse body when the legs are clamped in extended, service position, with said pivot shanks clear of the perimeters of said leg apertures, and the upper ends of said legs being additionally so formed as to permit swinging of said legs on said pivot shanks when said legs are lowered relative to said apertures in order to swing said legs to folded position. 